Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 35 views

    The Chimney Sweeper Essay

    Uploaded by

    jeffin31107

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    The Chimney Sweeper Essay

    Uploaded by

    jeffin31107
    35 views1 page

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    35 views1 page

    The Chimney Sweeper Essay

    Uploaded by

    jeffin31107

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    You are on page 1of 1

    The poem “the Chimney Sweeper” starts by a chimney sweeper himself, who is telling

    about his work. Afterwards, he dwells in the story of his fellow Tom Dacre, how he saw a
    strange dream.
    Stanza 1
    The speaker starts telling us in the start of the poem that his mother died when he was a
    small boy. He also confesses how his father sold him when he did not even know how to
    speak, indicating that he was probably a toddler at that time. In the eighteenth and
    nineteenth century, people used to put little boys to clean chimneys because they could
    ideally fit in there. The boy then tells us how he is used to sleep in soot every night,
    caught from cleaning all day.
    Stanza 2
    Now, the chimney sweeper introduces us to his friend Tom. Starting with how his hairs
    that got shaved because he had white and curly hairs, getting dirty often. When his head
    gets shaved the small boy Tom cries helplessly. The speaker then tells us that he consoled
    Tom and told him to stop crying and worrying about his hair because it is a good thing.
    He will no longer have to worry about all that nasty soot getting into his hair.
    Stanza 3
    Here the speaker further explains that on the same night his friend Tom saw a strange
    dream. He saw a lot of sweepers probably thousands of them locked up in some black
    coffins and the names were written on the few of them such as Dick, Joe and Nick.
    Black coffins refer to the black soot how every chimney sweeper is covered in black soot
    around the world and how every chimney sweeper is the same. This is how chimney
    sweepers sleep as well, covered in soot.
    Stanza 4
    In this stanza, Tom stops seeing the dreading black coffins. Instead, there comes an angle
    with a bright key and sets all the sweepers free.
    It can be related to how the only escape from this job for chimney sweepers is death.
    They can only be free when they die and then they will be shinning like the bright sun.
    Stanza 5
    Now, Tom’s dream gets weirder as we come to know that all the sweepers are clean,
    naked and flying on the clouds. They are playing in the wind as if they are finally free of
    all that burden of working. An angel comes to Tom and tells him that if he remains good,
    then the God will become his permanent father. It sounds strange, but it is a metaphor of
    desire. If you do good, God will give you all you desire for.
    Stanza 6
    Finally, the dream ends. Tom and his sweeper friend wake up early morning, going
    straight to work. It is too early and cold to work but they are working hard. Tom is shown
    happy with his work after his dream last night, why? Tom thinks that if will work hard
    everything will be good and he will get all his desires. Here Blake is telling us that these
    children suffer mentally as well thinking that they have to work no matter what.

    You might also like